God, Chuck and Me. Retirement is looming and this journey is recorded to show what we did right and what we did wrong. This story is ongoing.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Making it memorable

Since Chuck arrived for his two weeks off I have wanted the days to be fun and filled with great things to remember. He arrived late Monday night the 10th so we drove the long way home from Tucson International to Catalina trying to stay awake. Lots of talking and catching up.

Tuesday we were busy. Chuck got a haircut, we went grocery shopping (remember I haven't been cooking), getting the Escape ready to be sold and me getting used to having someone else in my house!

Wednesday was so fun because we drove to Phoenix to meet Nick and Darlene to hand over the title for the Escape. This was the culmination of a God thing that gave us the opportunity to be blessed as well as blessing someone else. They needed another car for her since she has a 3 year old and a newborn. You've gotta have a car with kids. They have been sharing and that was really hard and inconvenient. So there we were with this really good extra car and the match was made. The smile on Darlene's beautiful face when she drove the car over to put the kids and car seats in it warmed my heart.

Thursday we decided to go up the mountain, and it was spectacular. Mt. Lemmon was not too crowded, very cool and overhead bright blue skies. We stopped at the Palisades ranger station for a quick look around and then up to Summerhaven for a stop at The Living Rainbow gift shop and then next door to The Cookie Cabin. It was so nice not to be in any kind of hurry. After that we drove up to Ski Valley and road the ski lift up, took a short hike around the top and the road it down. It was the most peaceful and serene moment, snuggled up to Chuck and watching the mountain pass beneath us. Once we were off the lift we went to The Iron Door restaurant for chili. We had the most fun waiter, he was speaking five or six language to serve us. So fun. We drove home relaxed and smiling.

Friday was terrific. I had lunch with some of the women I worked with when I was at Ventana Medical. It was so fun to catch up and hear what everyone was doing, who was coming and going and all the other work talk that you do when you haven't seen people in six months. The food was good and the company was fantastic. That evening Chuck and I enjoyed the company of dear friends Mars and Kristen along with their two children and a young friend. We had a wonderful meal together laughing and talking about all the crazy things that life had thrown our way. We then enjoyed music, beer and wine outside around a roaring warm bonfire. The sky was clear with the stars shimmering brightly and the laughter carried through the cool night air. The kids had fun running in the yard and the adults enjoyed the rekindling of friendships.

Saturday was a sort of catch-up day. Laundry and yard work was the agenda with a stop in the middle for the UA football game. We won. The evening was a mellow one with reading and some movies. Splendid.

Sunday was a great day which started with a stop at Pusch Ridge Christian Church for a lovely worship and a chance to greet many friends. We were smiling brightly when we left. We made a stop at In-N-Out and headed south to the wine country of Sonoita and Elgin. The day was cool and breezy with high clouds. Perfect for a wine tasting tour. We stopped into six wineries and were able to fully stock our wine cabinet. We enjoyed visiting with another group doing the same thing and traveling in the same direction as we were. We would laugh when we ran into each other at every stop. It was a perfect day and we were both very tired and relaxed by the time we got home.

Monday-today-it was a blast from the past for Chuck. We took a road trip on the old Florence/Kelvin Hwy into Chuck's old stomping grounds in and around Kearny. We stopped at the overlook to watch the activity in the Ray open pit mine, and then cruised through Kearny as Chuck pointed out who used to live where and told me stories of life in a small mining town during the heydays of the 60's and 70's. He really loved it and I could tell there was more going on in his mind than what he was sharing with me. That happens to all of us when memories fill our hearts. We drove back through Superior and down through Florence and back to Catalina.